Songbird in the Lion's Den
by Panthiera
Summary: Who knew the course of true love could be so... awkward? Two strangers walking along a hyacinth road. RenRukia. AU.
1. Peanut Butter

Hi there! A quick note before you read the story: I have no idea what I'm doing writing a Renji/Rukia fic or being on pretending I can write for that matter. Please bear with me, I'm a little crazy. xD If I can be bothered (and think up of a totally ass-kickingly good plot) I'll continue this soon! Hope you enjoy it.

_Edit: Almost a year down the line, I did a once over of beta-reading on this chapter, and another point of notice occurred to me. I must say that both characters are in an alternate universe for this fic, but not alternate to the point of Mary Sues- just that they don't have their shinigami powers. But Rukia is still Byakuya's sister, for example, and they all live in Karakura. Oh, and it is in Rukia's POV unless stated otherwise._

_Many characters are also very out of character (OOC) for example, Renji, who is majorly-- well, you'll see! And even more so in the case of Rukia. I ask you to appreciate that I've chosen to do this, I think it works well for the story I've got in mind!_

_With that out of the way, I wish you'll enjoy this as much as I cracked up writing it. I have a very odd sense of humour..._

**Disclaimer:** I own neither President Bush nor Bleach. But Tite Kubo has been rumoured to own both.

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**Songbird in the Lion's Den**

Chapter 1: Peanut Butter

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Once again, I had been beaten to it. The residual spot under the willow tree was no longer empty, meaning that lunch alone on the steps was, for the eighth day in a row, imminent. I shifted the weight of the huge canvas from underneath one arm to the other with too great a difficulty for my miniscule frame, before settling it down beside me to eat.

The midday sun overhead was tenaciously intolerant that day; the perfect opportunity for the male students to resort to shedding their shirts, braces and ties, which of course they'd already done, while for the girls it meant hitching up their skirts to a barely acceptable degree and removing their shoes and socks. I, however, had remained perfectly intact, dressed immaculately from head to toe, not a hair out of place.

Peanut butter sandwiches for lunch again. The words to the Peanut Butter Song were literally dancing in my head. I'd invented it three days into the peanut butter lunch phase. You see, it's not that I hated those sandwiches, in fact I loved them, but the thing was, if you had peanut butter and only that for the past month in your sandwiches for lunch like I'd had, you'd be sure to tire of it too. Too bad we weren't millionaires, me and Byakuya; otherwise I wouldn't even be here. Not to mention I'd be able to attend Isotou Art School or something equally spectacular in two years' time.

Instead, we got by with the help of a government subsidy for young adults, which didn't exactly feel gratifying, especially when you're lining up for it and surrounded by mostly pensioners. It wasn't too great on the self-esteem. And I had to be the one to always do it, too. The feeling when I spotted someone I knew walking past the cashier's desk at the local town hall was incredible. Incredibly humiliating, that was.

But still, I couldn't complain because come dinner time, there was food on the table. Not high-end gourmet caviar dishes, just the usual stuff. But who wants high-end fish eggs for dinner anyway? Who did I look like, Kyouraku Shunsui?

I took a bite out of the sandwich, the taste being practically best friends with my tongue by now, and just after I deeply inhaled the September air, starting to really enjoy the weather, I was abruptly and rudely interrupted.

"Hey, Kuchiki."

"That's Kuchiki-chan, if not Kuchiki-san to you, Kiego."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

How rude! Who did this guy think he was? Just because he hung around with the popular kids didn't mean he was exempt from the human requisite of manners. "We need you for something."

"And what makes you think I'm obliged in any way to help you?" I retorted, wiping a bit of peanut butter from my chin.

"Well, the senior president requested it." he replied, as if that little fact made any difference to me. No doubt it was another stupid event they wanted me to help organise. I had no idea what it was about me that projected the image seeming like the sort of person who wanted to even engage in conversation with anyone, let alone help out with social events, where there was inevitably a lot of conversational engagement going on.

"What about it? He doesn't own me. Tell him to find somebody else to do it. Now shoo, I want to at least enjoy what's left of my lunch in peace. Your being here makes that impossible."

Kiego scrunched up his face like a troll before saying "Whatever, Peanut-Butter Kuchiki."

That annoyed the hell out of me, but boy was I glad he was gone. No longer was there a whiff of cheap soap in the air, and once again the sun shone brightly with me basking in it.

However this didn't last long as once again, rain insisted on ruining my parade.

"What is it this time?" I said through gritted teeth, half out of anger and half due to the residue of peanut butter caught between the crevices of my premolars. This person had totally blocked out my share of sun, leaving me in a patch of darkness on the school steps. This giant of an oaf was now officially already in my bad books for this utterly ungraceful manoeuvre. "I don't have time for this, I just want to eat my--"

"Kuchiki-san."

"Ha, whoever you are, I bet that dork Kiego told you to call me that. So, you! So much for buttering me up. The answer is 'no' by the way." I snorted. After a pause on his- or her- behalf, (this I wasn't sure of because I couldn't see the person's face) the sun finally returned and I beamed at the sky, thanking Reason and Fate for their intervention. But it wasn't over, poor me. The oaf had plopped down right beside me instead. Great.

"Kuchiki Rukia, I don't know any Kiego. All I know is that I sent someone over to ask for your help and you said no. So personally, as the senior president, I'm willing to offer you a small payment in return for your participation in the Spring Fair."

I knew it, what else was it ever going to be? Spring Fair this, Autumn Ball that, blah blah blah. "Look, President-san, I've already said-- wait a minute, did you say payment?"

So I finally managed to steal a glance at this president person and nearly died on the spot. Who was this guy and how comes I'd never seen him before? Why were there tattoos all over him? Why oh why did he insist on showing those finely carved pectoral muscles when they were so obviously and too illegally lustrous to be displayed in public? Has he no chastity? I'm still innocent for goodness' sakes!

"My name is Abarai Renji, you can call me Renji." he self-introduced, interrupting my string of thought and consequently extending an invitation for a handshake. After what seemed to be the longest delayed reaction in the entire universe, I grabbed it, albeit a little too eagerly and ended up somewhere halfway in his lap.

"Oh, excuse me for that, Renji-kun." I apologised, perhaps not showing as much embarrassment as I ought to have done, and having a total disregard for the proper use of honorifics. In my opinion, _everyone_ was _-kun_, I had never really known otherwise, growing up with Byakuya. Plus, I'd never met with anyone worthy of such honour from me, they were all either there to nudge or insult me, maybe with the one exception of Byakuya, but sometimes he even responded to "Oi", so there's not much else to say upon the matter . "So, you mentioned something about pay? If that's the case, I may be interested. As long as it doesn't interfere with my school work of course."

It sounded reasonable enough. I considered this opportunity as something of a part-time job; offering my help for money. That's how it went, right?

"You see, it is your school work." Renji pointed to the canvas I'd been lugging around- soon to be finished for my potential grade assessment. "We've met before."

We have? When?

"We have? When?" I scoffed, afraid of the direction this was leading. I certainly don't remember meeting this guy. If I had, I would have remembered his ferocious red hair and the colour of his eyes which made me feel slightly uneasy.

"I don't mean us," he continued, "I was talking about your canvas."

Well of course. It is top quality stuff. Grade A if I may say so myself. To this, I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to elaborate on what it was he was here for.

"Finally now I can put a name to a face, Kuchiki-san. I think your art is brilliant, and I'd like to display it at the Spring Fair this January. So I'm offering you 10,000 yen for the rental of your work."

I couldn't believe it. Was this really happening? 10,000 yen? I could feed myself for a month with that money! I looked at Renji, who looked back at me intently, no doubt waiting for me to say 'yes', but, there were some issues I had to air.

"Renji-kun, I'm certainly interested, but there're some things I have to tell you first." I started, and noticed that he was still listening with an intimidating amount of concentration. "You see- I can't just simply paint whenever I feel like it. It won't come to me straightaway, so it may take some time... and I'm sorry but I can't tell you when that would be!" I continued, making up an excuse to exempt me from the pressure of expectation.

His pupils dilated slightly, making me jump; maybe it was because he shifted his eyes, but whatever the case, he spoke not long after.

"About that-- I was actually talking about another piece of yours- one that's already completed? It's called 'Sakura-wa', and I believe it's hanging in the basement of the Momo building?"

My heart skipped a beat on so many levels. I didn't even know where to begin organising my thoughts because my mind was splattered with an array of thoughts. Okay, first things first, he was willing to pay me a month's worth of food in money for something that I'd already done? Of which he actually knew the name? And what on earth had he been doing in the Momo building, and if he was there, then again, for the umpteenth time so far, why had I never seen him to this day? This was beginning to feel more and more like some sort of twisted underlying plot by the minute. Call me paranoid, but don't frown when it comes to 'I told you so'.

"W-well," I stammered, regaining my mental composure, "I guess that could be arranged." Clearing my throat, I took the last bite of my peanut butter sandwich. Renji smiled at me in the way that wily businessmen smiled at their corporal targets, making me feel like a rabbit caught in headlights. It didn't help that this man before me was so devilishly handsome that I couldn't even resort to concentrating on some ugly spot or something to distract myself from the situation. No, his face was even more flawless than Inoue Orihime's, and we all knew how beautiful she was. That so wasn't jealousy you detected, by the way.

"I'll come by the building in about a week's time to collect the canvas. Can I call you?"

I wanted to tell him that I didn't have a phone, but the uprising sense of shame that came about was too great to be overcome. A teenager with no phone was like the little mermaid with no fins. So instead, I tried to play it cool. What a mistake.

"Uh, sure. It's 003-743-587."

Renji looked up from his phone accusingly at me. "Sorry, could you type that in yourself?"

Uh-oh. In any case, I typed in the number for the _Isotou Art School_ into his phone, which he fell for like a maniac on a bungee cord.

"Thanks, Rukia. You'll be hearing from me. Enjoy your lunch." he said.

What a polite young man, I thought. They don't make them like that anymore. I rolled my eyes as he got up to leave- which I think he actually caught a glimpse of- telling myself that of course they don't, and that if they did, there would be crazy-looking tattooed redheads everywhere, scaring the living daylights out of old ladies with their hazel snake eyes.

But in spite of all things, 10,000 yen for a day's work wasn't bad at all, was it?

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**TBC...**


	2. Shi, Ne?

Some quick footnotes: (despite that they're positioned in the header, haha)

- 'Shi ne' is a phrase from Weiss Kreuz's Ran Fujimiya. I love him. It means 'Die' or 'Kill' or something equally as spectacular.

- And 'Durendal' is the name of Roland's sword from the medieval text 'The Song of Roland'. I've been studying these kind of texts as part of my university course, and I find them incredibly tedious and painstaking, so what better way to actually make use of them?

Enjoy the chapter! I'd love it if you left a review at the end!

**Disclaimer**: I own Bleach as much as I own Microsoft, ie. not at all.

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**Songbird in the Lion's Den**

Chapter 2: Shi Ne

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FREAK? I'll show him freak!

"Hey! Listen up, fish breath!" I shouted at the group of boys. Never had I been more scared or had my arms shaken more violently in my life but I had to do this; I had to make a stand. Enough was enough; I'd had it with the name-calling and the snide remarks. After a year you'd think it would have ceased, but the only thing that seemed to have changed was that there were now more of them doing it- some from the lower year who I didn't even know for goodness' sakes. Constant taunts of 'Queen Weirdo' and 'Freaky McFreak' still frequented me whenever I passed Kiego and his arsy stupid underage loons, with whom he played lord and serf when he wasn't sucking up to the student council or trying to merge with the cool drama kids. And I'd just about had it.

"This stops RIGHT NOW!" I screamed, edging closer to them, and I felt a little resolve increase as their faces changed. Obviously they hadn't expected this from little old me. "If I hear so much as another syllable from you when I'm around I'm gonna stick my paintbrush in you where the sun don't shine!"

Haha! Mental high five, I thought to myself. I was going to make sure that whenever Kiego heard the name Kuchiki Rukia he'd run away screaming...

"You're not smart, you're not cool and you always smell of rubber, so shut up! If you carry on with your stupid name calling, you can be certain that... that I will..." Having used my one and only prepared line I was now struggling to find another equally as worthy one. I'd dreamt about this moment for ages, but I'd usually imagined myself just throwing him that one liner and then proceeding to kick his butt to next Tuesday and back. But since this was real life, I lacked the means and strength to actually do that. I was quickly becoming shakier and the fact that the scene in the cramped corridor was attracting just about the entire student body didn't help either. Kiego caught on to my hesitation and my fortress came crumbling down like shortcake pie.

"You'll what?" that smarmy rat started, poking me in the side at which I immediately swatted. Who knows where he'd been. "Ha ha! Nothing! You can't even spin a real insult, loser! Why don't you go back to your basement and talk to the mice until you have something better to say? You're such a dumbass, Kuchiki, or should I say, Ku-BAKA? Ha ha ha! Trying to stand up to your superior is not a good idea!"

Why that little--! Superior? NEVER! I was shaking like a lunatic on the outside and internally my blood boiled. I clenched my hands into little fists, even though I knew there was nothing I could do with them. I was outnumbered five to one, and even if people got involved they'd only take his side. Damn, I hated high school!

"Now hurry along before the sunlight melts your face--NHYARGHH!" Suddenly Kiego was nearly bent over backwards by a clip to the collar. Everyone immediately turned to see the person responsible was none other than the senior president, and at that dispersed quicker than you could say 'What's for dessert?' It was almost the law that there were to be no gathering crowds or commotion when he was around. He'd mentioned it in a school publication (which he happened to be the editor of, so it might as well have been law) that he'd 'Shi Ne' anyone involved in a fight or ruckus. I'd believed that to be some sort of lethal death move, so my admiration had started from there. Now that I could put name to a face, it seemed even more possible that the fiery redhead before me could have 'Shi Ne'd' anyone he wanted five times over in a pair of stilettos whilst rocking a sleeping child.

"What's this?" he simply asked, feigning obliviousness to a haunting effect. No one answered, because only a moron would. Everything Abarai Renji said was strictly rhetorical, even when he actually wanted to ask a question. It was painfully true.

"Ah, bonjour Rukia-chan." he greeted. My jaw dropped to the floor at his casual use of French. Was this really the time? Or the place? I thought.

"Uh, hi." I replied.

Everyone else was as- if not more- shocked than me at the fact that the senior president was striking up foreign conversation with me in the middle of the corridor with Kiego's collar scrunched in his fist. He might as well have Shi Ne'd somebody. My blood was now lukewarm behind a mixed feeling of retreat and confusion.

Renji let go of Kiego and briskly shoved him to the side, shooting him _the _look before approaching me. I wanted to run away, he was going to kill me for sure. I wanted to taste the world and have four kids before my time was up, but now I'd never get to do any of those things. The only thing I'd be tasting is putty food through a hospital tube.

Cowering slightly, I gulped, waiting for the final blow, for him to clip my collar like he'd done Kiego's and then proceed to inflict on me the curse of the Shi Ne.

"So," he boomed, "first you start something in the middle of the corridor, where people are trying to walk, which I hate, and now I can't even have a conversation in private anymore?"

I looked up to meet the face of my maker but was surprised that he wasn't actually talking to me, but to everyone else who'd been stupid enough to remain at the scene of the crime. Those included Kiego and a bunch of older years that were friends of Renji's (but were exempt since they had a perpetual place in his good books).

"Who's heard of 'Shi ne'?" was all it took to dismiss the remaining observers. "And hey, you," he addressed to Kiego as he was about to leave, "If you don't want my friend here to stick her paintbrush where she said she would, in future you'd better not give her a reason to."

The brunet shot me a look of contempt before joining his prepubescent gang, who had no idea what was going on apart from the fact that there was a scary redhead on the scene who looked like he could kill them with his eyelash. They made haste in leaving, but for once I actually wish they'd stayed so that the attention would have been lifted from me, but, I had no such luck. I knew it, Renji wanted to see me in private so that he could commit the murder and hide the evidence without disturbance or paperwork.

"Rukia-chan, I tried calling you the other night, but the woman on the other side said you weren't there." he said, any trace of what just happened evidently wiped from his mind. My jaw had no plans of reattaching itself to my face as I just stared at his heavily tattooed face, incredulously as I remembered I'd given him the number for Isotou. And what the heck-- Rukia-_chan?_ Oh gods no, please don't tell me he thinks we're friends now just because I called him Renji-kun that fateful day.

"Earth to Rukia."

"HUH? What did you say?" I blurted, suddenly aware of human life on Earth.

"That's no way to talk to your senior, is it now? Especially after I saved you back there."

I furrowed my eyebrows at his insolence and crossed my arms roughly. Oh, so he wanted to play the hero, eh? Wanted a shot at glory, did he? I wasn't going to have any of that; I'd already been through this kind of thing with the people who just left!

"I can fight my own battles! No one said they needed your help!" I spat, turning away from his evil eyes and hair, which I'm sure were the work of the devil himself. My brother always told me to live an honest life and to steer clear of people who looked like Satan. And here I was, about to follow his advice.

"Kuchiki!"

Kuchiki? It was Rukia-chan just now! Oh I see your colours coming through, Abarai, I see them well and clear. And they're not telling me good things. Was Karakura High aware that its senior president was actually a demonic warlord? The truth was always the greatest injury in war, they say, and this was walking proof in the battle of the century. Kuchiki versus Abarai- fight to the death!... or something like that.

I halted, but not by choice. Some person, I'm guessing a crony of his, stopped me and gestured towards somewhere behind me.

"He's talking to you, you might wanna listen. Abarai doesn't play games very well." the orange-haired person said.

WHAT? Games? Who in the name of old man Yamamoto was this strawberry head?

"Okay, what is it?" I more stated than asked, rolling my eyes and preparing myself for the worse. And then it suddenly hit me- the money. He wanted to pay me; why else would he be here? I quickly became very excited at this prospect, and Renji must have mistaken it for my warming to him or something because, dear lord, he smiled at me.

"A couple of friends who are seniors and I are heading down to Karakura Café after class, say at four, and I was wondering if you'd like to come?"

Ah, Karakura Café! I loved that place. I was actually going there myself later on, huge emphasis on _myself_. I didn't expect to talk about the commission money in such an informal surrounding, but I supposed it couldn't be helped- must be busy, being the president. Yeah, busy plotting deaths. Anyway, I sighed and agreed to it. A café was as good a place as any when there was money in discussion, and I did give him a phone number that didn't belong to me after all, so calling was out of the question. Hell I would have even sat in a dung pile with him if it meant he was going to hand over some cash.

I tried my best to smile sweetly, which invariably ended up as more of a grimace if I'm honest, and waited for him to leave- which he didn't. He just lingered next to me in silence.

Okay, so I got it. I sighed yet again. I was the one that had to leave, not him, because almighty president there decided the rules. Jeez, I thought as I turned to leave, what a snob. I allowed it this once, because he helped me with that dolt Kiego back there, as much as I hated to admit it.

What I didn't see however, were Renji's eyes trailing me down the corridor. Alright, so I cut him off a bit abruptly, but what good would have staying achieved? What did he expect- a conversation or something?

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**TBC...**


	3. MC Kurosaki vs Renji Monet

Hello! Back for more are we? ;) Well I happen to love writing this, lucky you! Enjoy.

_Edit: 'Aidez moi, s'il vous plais': Help me, please (in French. Thanks so much Lallaby for the correction. Hugs)_

_I also want to say that yes, I know Rukia appears somewhat rude and disjointed as a character, especially at the end of the last chapter where she totally dismisses Renji on a social scale. My justification for that at this point is that Rukia is a self-obsessed and naive girl. She grew up on her own with Byakuya in this story, and therefore doesn't have much else in her world apart from her beloved brother. At school she is (or was, until Renji stepped in) constantly harassed by Kiego and his cronies, so that didn't do much for her willingness to socialise. Instead, as you may have worked out, she takes solace in her art and her own company, which is evident with this being in her POV (I find Rukia's mind hilarious I might add) and considers being in the presence of other people quite a difficult conflict to overcome._

_So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the ongoing story in general. I'm having so much fun writing it again. Note: some spellings may be different to how you recognise it because I come from the UK! And if you don't know what a Moebius strip is, look it up, it's fascinating!_

**Disclaimer**: Bleach; I don't own it.

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**Songbird in the Lion's Den**

Chapter 3: M. C. Kurosaki vs. Renji Monet

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I yawned as it was nearing four o'clock and there was still no sign of Renji nearby. I was nervous enough as it was- how it always was when I had to wait for anybody, be it teachers, children, or my brother. The Karakura Café was slowly filling with students from school, which meant that it was usually time for me to leave. However, on this one day I had the pleasure of waiting behind for somebody I barely knew and thought looked like Mephistopheles the he-devil. _It'll be worth it, it'll be worth it_, I thought to myself, picturing me swimming in a pool of cash with a bowl of eel and rice in my hand, relishing early retirement from my artist's earnings if things carried on this way.

_Ten thousand yen_, I thought, _for a single use of my work_. I bathed in the knowledge that I was actually good enough to commission. For years now I'd always had a feeling that I could never compete with the big shots in our school, namely that Ishida Uryuu. His works of art were like something fresh out of the Renaissance period, and his sculptures made you feel like you were in the Italian Sistine chapel itself. The bastard. I envied that guy to no end- he'd already won major art prizes and he was only a year older than me. I was also incredibly jealous of the fact that he was going to Isotou University of Arts and I wasn't. The rich had it all, huh? Oh, and I used to have only the biggest and kind of twisted crush on him, where I wanted to be his bride and murder him at the same time, but those days were behind me now. Almost.

Finally, our resident president made it into the joint, lugging behind him the same orange-haired guy from before, who I would later come to know as the Legend that was Kurosaki Ichigo, and Jesus help me, Inoue Orihime! Heads inevitably turned to the trio, eyes mainly on the female redhead who was beautiful beyond words and logical thought. Renji spotted me crouched in the corner and held up a hand to wave. I smiled feebly and wished for this to be over and done with pronto.

"Thanks, you saved us seats. Ichigo, Orihime, meet Rukia, and vice versa," he smiled at me again, inducing shudders down my spine. What was with all this smiling business? It was utterly unnecessary. It only caused me to involuntarily conjure up less than decent thoughts of him, thoughts which involved no shirts whatsoever, a motorbike and a shovel thrown in somewhere.

He seemed to have mistaken my huddling alone in a corner where the couches sat as me choosing to reserve seats for them. Little did he know that it was a result of my 'keep-away-from-me' vibe in full swing. No one ever bothered me in my little corner, and that was how it had always been and should always be. But reluctantly I had to make an exception for Mr. Important there, who was currently gazing at me like a madman. What did he want for Heaven's sakes! I physically leaned back a little in repulsion, which only made it worse because he moved closer like it was the acceptable thing to do. Oh boy.

"Right, Inoue and I are ordering." declared Ichigo for the both of them, after having exchanged niceties with me in the form of a nod, acknowledging my sore existence. Inoue beamed at me, causing me to blush, before following Ichigo happily and, erm, bouncily.

It was as I had feared- sitting alone with Satan in the Karakura Café. Who knew what could have happened with Renji if I hadn't been so adamant in keeping my distance. There he was, sitting there, elbows on knees and humming something incoherent. Probably plotting his next government coupe, the power crazy maniac. The eyes said it all, those dark and slender eyes, the way they curved round the frontier of his smooth face-- Why, no one ever even _thought_ of suspecting someone so humble-looking to be the bringer of their doom, slashing his harpoons (no doubt his weapon of choice) and gutting their children before their eyes. Oh the children!

Was I even making sense?

"Have you tried the cinnamon bubble tea?"

Ug.

"Yes." I squeaked as meekly as possible, my chain of thoughts broken in their steed. Narrowing my eyes, I looked slowly at Renji. "So," I started, bringing the conversation- if you could call it that- nearer more personal issues. "How's the Spring fair going?" Hopefully that would have been enough of a hint for that hairball there to figure out that he was still yet to pay me for my artistic services, oh, but no.

"Oh, it's fine, thanks for asking." he replied, baring his teeth in that atrocious act of smiling again. "I've been so caught up in it that I've kind of cut everyone off." he sighed, a hint of retreat in his tone. "No one's even bothered to see how I've been though. Shows you who your real friends are."

"Pfft" I scoffed, "You had friends earlier when- y'know- in the corridor." It was true, there were about ten of them following him! There was no need whatsoever to give him my precious pity when he was obviously deluded and fibbing to gain said pity. Probably did that a lot- too much power often ended up in numerous insecurities. It said so in a Dr. Phil book I'd read for English. Smashing stuff.

"Earlier? No, that was my soccer team."

Oh, so that's why they were wearing those odd shirts and shorts? I thought it was just a new fashion phase or something equally as spectacular. I coughed, biting my tongue and repressing the little voice in my head. Well they could have been his friends, who knows?

"Anyway, apart from that, I'm at least having a little fun with the whole thing. I know it's like two months away but I like to be prepared- have to make a good impression being senior president and all. Go with a bang!" he laughed, faltering to a silence when he realised that I was just staring wide-eyed at him.

He actually looked really good laughing. He had nice teeth, and I loved it when people had nice teeth. Inoue Orihime had the best teeth of them all. I silently shivered in the knowledge that she was like, ten inches away from me at the ice cream counter, momentarily put off my guard and oblivious to the fact that Renji had edged even closer to me on the couch. I was running out of room to escape here, dude! Any further and I'd be squashed against the wall, man!

"What do you like to do in your free time?" he asked, making me forget any instances of money and payroll with his fancy social abilities. But it wasn't going to work! I tore my eyes away from Orihime and looked him square in the eye.

"Hey! Listen, I came here to talk about the mon--"

And it was at that precise moment that the person who was my idol and would soon turn out to be my confidante interrupted with beverage-y goodness and airy happiness.

"Order's up! Here's your cinnamon bubble tea, Renji-kun! And since you're the newcomer around here, Rukia-chan- I hope you don't me calling you that-" I quickly and frantically shook my head and accepted the mango sorbet from the goddess standing in front of me. She beamed that sunshine inspired smile of hers again and joined Ichigo on the adjacent sofa. "It's on us, by the way! And that's final." she whispered loudly, and winked at me.

I was in love. Everything about her was one hundred percent and more. Having studied her eyelashes in the assembly hall from my place a few rows behind more than a million times; down to the curve of her calves and the cute shoes she always wore- her flawless skin and her endless beauty- she was everything I imagined her to be personality-wise. Head of pretty much all the voluntary organisations, head of literature society, and being the second smartest girl in the year only to Ishida, she embodied already at the age of eighteen, everything that each girl and woman at the school aspired to be a fraction of by the time they were 90. I know I sounded like a weird stalker every time I went off on a tangent about Orihime, but for me to invest any interest at all into anyone said a lot about my true opinions of them. Even my brother didn't receive this much admiration from me on a daily basis- only when he told me stories of the guys he beat up at school and showed me the new culinary skills he'd obtained from Home Ec. lessons.

"Rukia-chan! Have you fallen asleep?" I felt a poke at my side. I looked over and Orihime was leaning over the arm of our couch across Renji and trying to catch my attention. Was this for real?

"Huh, yeah?" I answered. "Sorry, I was kind of distracted." I coughed, losing my usual tomboyish esteem.

"Ichigo was just asking about your artwork- who it's inspired by- what made you wanna do it?"

Ichigo had actually asked me that? The same Ichigo who I always saw cornering small kids against walls and taking footballs off the boys in my year? Really? The guy wasn't actually two-dimensional? I glanced at him, and wasn't surprised to see that he wasn't even looking at me, or Renji, or Inoue, but the small stuffed parrot perched atop the bookshelf. What was the meaning of this?

"Guhh..." I stammered, still staring at the enigmatic teen at the furthest end of our human line. Renji caught on to the fact that I was waiting for him to face me and called out a swift 'Kurosaki!' partnered with a crisp click of the fingers to get his attention. Smooth move, Mr. President. I couldn't prevent myself quickly enough from smiling at this, and it was only Sod's Law that Renji saw the quick curve of my lips, and what was this? I had unintentionally fallen into the trap that made him smile at me again. There we were, two idiots smiling at each other. Oh man, this had to stop!

"Well, Ichigo-kun, I've always like the work of René Magritte and Francis Bacon, with a dash of Monet. So I guess they're my influences if anything."

"Claude Monet is a genius." Renji declared, apparently not being able to contain himself from the enthrallment of this conversation. Like he knew what Monet even was! Why, that little show-off...

"No, he's got nothing on Escher."

"How can you even say that? Escher's on a whole different plane. His artwork's about geometry, Monet depicts what we dream."

Oh my god. That's what I'd always thought. Had this guy been reading my diary?

"Oh, so you'd say those stairs actually exist in real life? Oh but of course, how could I forget. And while we're at it, get me a Moebius strip will you? I need to floss my teeth." Ichigo rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"You're being obtuse and you know it. I still think they're incomparable to one another."

"This is coming from a heavily tattooed demographic."

"It goes on and on." whispered Inoue again, to my bafflement. "Usually it ends up in a wrestling match. Men, eh?"

Amen, sister! I smiled sheepishly at Inoue, who seemed to take it well, which was advantageous for me because I don't think I was even capable of any other expression then. Unless you counted gormless.

"I'll handle it." Inoue said aside to me, sending another one of those heavenly winks my way. Could this girl do no wrong? Chain me to Inoue, folks! She is my goddess--

"Ichigo, let's finish our tea and leave Rukia and Renji to it. You said you'd help me with French, remember?"

--in a life where she doesn't decide to ditch me with Renji...! Can someone say 'Aidez moi, s'il vous plais'...?

Outwardly, I was calm, but internally, I had died on the spot. I wanted to reach out for someone, anyone, when the other two got ready to leave. I would have given anything to be that last tapioca pearl in Ichigo's tea if it meant he would have carried me away from Renji in the pit of his bowels.

"Okay, so uh, I got to go too uh, yeah, sorry pal." I quickly exclaimed, patting Renji on the back (which I immediately regretted and almost flinched at in disgust. What can I say? It was a reflex action) and fuffling with my schoolbag.

"Oh..." Renji uttered, his mouth opening and closing like a mackerel.

I made a run for it. Olympic hurdlers? Not after my record stint at jumping the tables, nope. No time to look back now! The only way is forward! There it was, the door, so close--

"You didn't finish your mango sorbet!"

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**TBC...**


	4. Walking Along the Hyacinth Road

Hi! I'd forgotten how much I love writing, this fic in particular.

I hope you can forgive me for how long it has taken me to update this. I was kind of unmotivated for a long time but today everything amalgamated and I guess I just needed an expressive outlet.

As you will probably notice the initial writing style of Rukia has changed somewhat. I see her now as more mature, so please excuse the sudden shift in narrative style. I tried to remain as close to the original as possible, but a little change doesn't hurt, especially as it paves the way for more improvement, right?

And one more thing- I had fun writing Rukia in this chapter where she keep doubting then reaffirming Renji's authority, mauling it as if it were her own little plaything! (I chuckle at this) I think it's so endearing and really encompasses all that is their relationship.

For now, enjoy the chapter! Please let me know what you think in a review, if you like the new style or what you'd like to read or happen, I love reading them!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach.

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**Songbird in the Lion's Den**

Chapter 4: Walking Along the Hyacinth Road

* * *

"You didn't finish your mango sorbet! Rukia-san!"

If I keep running maybe he'll forget about it all! Oh gods why is this happening? I questioned, shaking a fist at the powers above. I made a face that the Marx brothers would have found pitiful and slowed down a notch. My morals were telling me to stop and face my demons (well, more accurately, the demon standing at the entrance of the Karakura Café behind me and now readying himself for chasing me down the road) but my body was just dying to escape imminent doom! One cannot be blamed for wanting to survive!

So I end up stopping, freely placing my life directly into the devil's hands. And we hadn't even begun to talk about that godforsaken money yet!

"Rukia, you seem to be in a rush. Was today not convenient for you? You should have said something."

Renji had caught up with me at the end of the road, and was now pausing for air. Yes, that's right, he was looking at the Number One junior Fun Runner after all! I took my track skills seriously! Well, back when I was eight anyway. Actually, had I even been running that fast? I avoided looking at the person before me in any way that I could, before attempting to respond.

"No, today was good." I wanted to talk about the money, but found no decent way to bring it up. So I tried my hand at hinting once again, not that he'd get it, the imbecile! Why was this creature senior president? He had zero intuition! "It was just I needed to get to the supermarket before it closed, I-er, have to make special dinner tonight... it being, the, um, Tuesday."

"... Tuesday? What's so special about Tuesday?"

"Why, it's payday, of course!"

If that didn't work I didn't know what would.

"Oh I see, well, here. This should help with passing the time." The scarlet charlatan in front of me handed me something, and I would have burst out laughing if it had not been for my strict military upbringing by none other than myself. Discipline is key! said my brain throughout my childhood years (Byakuya thought me strange).

By the time I'd taken the item from him it was a near pile of mush, and the scenario was so inherently ridiculous that even my army training childhood could not divert me from chuckling. I took the mango sorbet from Renji with a stifled smile on my face, but he could see through it. Clearly.

If it hadn't been for the fact that the senior president of Karakura High had just sprinted down the road in aid of transporting me my forgotten popsicle, I would have been somewhat ticked off at the fact that the cold and sticky sorbet juice had now coated my hand. However, I just smiled at the ground upon which we both stood for a while, watching the occasional drop of the ice lolly, and remembering the time that Inoue the Goddess had bought it for me, despite the fact that it had only been about ten minutes ago.

It felt kind of good.

Was this what it felt like to let your guard down?

Finally, he broke the silence. "The supermarket's on my way home, want me to come with you?"

I paused, and didn't answer him, but instead gave him a flick of the eyes which meant it was okay for him to 'follow' me to the supermarket. Sure, it was pretty cocky of me, being his inferior and he my superior, but I didn't think he minded, which was fine by me! In a way, I wondered what I'd done to have gained such respect from him. Or maybe he had no self-respect. My goodness. Or... no, I wasn't going to go down _that_ road. Not now, not ever, not with _him_. Goodness, and I thought Ishida was bad.

After a good fifteen minutes, it hit me, as I was about to pick up a basket for my groceries at the convenience store, that I'd been walking about town with the president of Karakura High School. Eating an ice lolly. Sure, it wasn't as if he was president of the world or anything, but seeing as he governed the logistics of a place where the majority of people build their teenage years, I had to admit to myself, it was quite a feat.

Also admittedly, I wasn't feeling as highly strung as before. Renji wasn't getting in my way much, rather, he just disappeared for a while, which appealed very much to me as I liked to shop alone, and bumped into me in the bakery aisle a few moments after.

We looked at each other for a moment, and oh god, there was that smile again of his (why??) before we neared the checkout.

It was then that I realised my wallet was nowhere to be found. At first I just looked at the female cashier and smiled feebly whilst rummaging around my schoolbag for it, which transcended into me muttering into the contents of my backpack for a while or so, and ended up with a very embarassed teenager with the wrath of accumulating customers in the queue staring at her square in the eye. I thought it couldn't get worse but at that moment Renji approached from the adjacent till and, having worked out what was going on, pulled out his gigantic wad of cash (well, really it was just a few notes) and handed it to the checkout girl. I don't think he even looked at how much he gave her. He could have been short of the full amount for all I know, and I knew a lot.

I packed my bag and hurried out of there as fast as I could without making it look like I'd just shoplifted the joint. Renji was hot on my heels, and once again, I was in the lair of the devil. Something irked me about what had just happened. It seemed like that I was indebted to him now, literally. This wasn't supposed to happen! If anything he was supposed to be giving me money like he'd promised! Technically, he just did, but the wiring was all wrong!

"Thanks for that." I said, red in the face, but partly wondering where my purse was. Had I dropped it in the pond earlier?

"That's no problem. I didn't know you liked beef ribs."

Er, what? Oh, my groceries. Wait, what?

"Oh right, yeah, it's more for my brother. He likes beef rib. Reminds him of when my mother used to cook it"

The red head nodded, pursing his lips. "Hey, I nearly forgot, I said I'd pay you for use of your painting. I guess I could do that now, as I have money on me?"

I must have died and gone to Soul Society at that point at Renji's mention of the money. Finally, it was here! And I didn't even have to throw my dignity out of the window in order to obtain it. What a swell guy! No wonder he's the senior president of Karakura High! Forget all those previous times I doubted you, Abarai Renji, you are the perfect candidate!

He handed me several notes of cash which amounted to ten thousand yen, and the look on my face must have been pure ecstacy because he chuckled a bit, but I did not care one bit! I was calculating how many pots of instant noodles I could buy with this money; how many bread baguettes; maybe a hundred boxes of Pocky, a hundred jars of peanut butter? Hey, maybe even some crab paste to put in my sandwiches instead of the peanut butter? Oh, how I rejoiced.

I noticed after my brief spell of ultimate joy that he hadn't charged me for the groceries he'd just bought. I mean, what a hell kind of president was he? It did not happen more than five minutes ago, the doofus!

"Renji-san, you forgot to deduct the grocery bill just now. How much was it again, two thousand yen?"

The tall and wild-haired young man closed his eyelids for a second, smiling. "It's on me," he said, with an air of posterity, if you could even say that. "It also reminds me of a time long ago, much happier times when I was a kid."

Wow, I never knew beef had just nostalgic authority, but that was maybe because I never liked it that much. I half-smiled at him, before inhaling and motioning that I had ought to be leaving.

"Well, guess I'll see you when I see you!" I said hurriedly, not exactly up for sticking around to play staring games with one another. His physique freaked me out enough as it was, let alone any interaction with him, which made me infinitely more nervous, albeit I had gotten used to it a little more within the timespan of a week than with most people in a lifetime. Anyway I felt at that moment that if I were to look at him any longer my eyeballs would pop out. What this was due to I couldn't quite place my finger on. Maybe it was a mixture of his intimidating tattoos and his pensive facial expression.

Walking down the road, I felt the burdening string of attachment to Abarai Renji breaking into two, because one, I had got the money, which meant two, I'd never have to see him for any extended amount of time again! This filled me with innate happiness at the prospect of returning to my world of introversion from the scary external one of social obligation. It was where I was happiest, away from emotion, disappointment, and all those other winding concepts that happened leaving you empty as a human.

I'd been looking at my Chappy watch for close to five minutes before realising that I wasn't even after the time. Yet, it was then, at 4:03 amidst the Autumn afternoon, that the most surreal thing happened to me. As I looked up, I could see the orange sky and sun creep through the branches and leaves above down onto me, as if they were singing me a song. All around me was a soft pink light. It was a narrow road I walked down, flanked by tall evergreen trees, which only grew in the cold yet strangely survived around these districts.

I was entirely alone, or so I thought. A soft hum escaped my throat as my mind enjoyed its simple pleasures. These were the moments that life was worthing living for. It was times like these that made the walk home less lonely than it usually was.

As my consciousness continued to swim in the light ambience of the air around me, my eyes wandered to the side and noticed that somebody was there, walking along parallel to me on the other side of the road. It was Renji. Had he followed me here? It didn't seem so, because as I was looking he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, head down, jumper draped over his shoulders. Thus continued the surrealism, as I didn't buckle like I normally would have done in any other circumstance, but continued to watch him from where I was walking.

And for a moment, I felt completely incomplete-- a large empty void that appeared from out of nowhere. The sunlight through the trees was helping fill it a little, but the sight of the solitary man across from me was something I could not fathom nor escape from. He was being bathed in a warm light too, no doubt same as I, and it occurred to me for a moment that we might have been one and the same, two lonely souls on the path to nowhere.

He looked up, breaking me away from my thoughts. He didn't smile this time, only looked. Maybe even had an apologetic look on his face, what was with that though? I raised a hand in acknowledgement quickly, not wanting to give an over-friendly impression. He took it the right way, continuing on his own path.

And so it remained like that, the two of us, walking along the hyacinth road, for then, 'til the end of time, for lost lover's souls, and for the death of humanity. As Hemingway put it once, 'As you get older it is harder to have heroes,

But it is sort of necessary.'

**TBC...**


End file.
